My friend Jenny shared a story (ironically?) on Facebook that is all about how Facebook banned a mother’s photos, and later put the mother on a 24 hour ban from the site. I know many people who have had some rather heated discussions lately over the Timeline on Facebook, but this upsets me more. Sometimes life isn’t always sunshine and roses, and similarly that means that not every photo a person takes is going to show the “pretty” things. So Heather Walker’s son was born with Anencephaly (a defect that results in the child missing portions of the brain and skull)? One of the first things that parents do is take photos of their beautiful baby, and the Walker family was no different. Continue Reading →
Recent posts
Text A Warning
While it’s not the most uplifting or fun topic, one of my areas of interest is sexual assault (if you ever want to kill someone’s interest in you, I find that telling them this is what I study is a great way to have them quickly exit the conversation). A lot of people don’t seem to know that if a person is under the influence of anything they cannot legally consent. This doesn’t mean that a person has to be blacking out, but even a single drink can impair a person’s judgement. It’s important to note that in many parts of the world (including America), the most common date rape drug is actually alcohol. In light of this, I was interested to read that Scotland Yard police will be sending text messages to people in bars warning them of the risks of sexual assault. Continue Reading →
Awkward Engagement Photos
Yep, I still have wedding brain. However, this post will hopefully get a laugh out of you. Knowing I’m getting engagement photos done soon, my friend sent me a link to Buzzfeed’s 30 Most Awkward Engagement Photos (he said it was “inspiration” for me). Some are more poor photography than awkward, but some are really… well, see for yourself. Continue Reading →
Where To Wed?
It’s gearing up to be wedding season (although the specific “in season” months depend on where you are), and I’ll probably be posting plenty about weddings in the next two months especially as mine is coming up. Glamour magazine has a wedding blog, and they recently posted “5 Unusual Wedding Venues I’ll Bet You’ve Never Considered.” And yup, they definitely are listing five I’d never thought of. Those five are a gun shop, an igloo, a gas station, a haunted house, and on the Titanic (timely with the movie just coming out in 3D). I’ve been to a wedding at the (former) prison where the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” was filmed, and that’s the closest I’ve come to a haunted house wedding. Continue Reading →
Cunnilingus vs. Fellatio
A friend of mine was posting on Facebook about how blow jobs are dead, after he read an article from Esquire. Now, that’s not quite what the article says. The article is indeed called “The Observation: The Demise of the Blow Job” (but comes up in my browser as “Death of the Blow Job”), but it’s less about the death of fellatio and more about the rise of cunnilingus. To be fair, the author does mention that the 8 out of 10 men who prefer cunnilingus to fellatio are their “mature male friends”, and the 2 who prefer fellatio are gay. I’m not sure if it’s true that cunnilingus has fallen into favor, or if maybe people are more comfortable talking about it and it’s just getting more attention. Continue Reading →
Spermicidal Condoms & N9
I came across an article called “What Spermicide Users Should Know, But Often Don’t” by Gretchen Cuda Kroen the other day that reminded me of the downsides to spermicides, specifically nonoxynol-9. While nonoxynol-9 is very effective at helping to prevent pregnancy and STIs, it can also have some negative effects. Studies have shown that nonoxynol-9 may leave its users more susceptible to HIV. Also, more and more people are reporting have sensitivity issues to it. These sensitivity issues can be mild and somewhat annoying to pretty bad (for example, some people have developed rashes, severe itching, etc.) Also, the amount of nonoxynol-9 that stays on the condom isn’t as much as if someone would add some spermicide on their own – so if you do prefer spermicide as your method of birth control, just know that you can easily add a dab of spermicide to the inside and outside of the condom. Continue Reading →
Accessible Gynecologists
I recently came across a post on the Gimp Girl Community about Accessible Gynecologists, and (sadly) wasn’t all that shocked that it contained a rather short list of gynecologists who members have found to have accessible facilities and doctors they’d use. I expected a smaller list, but alas, there are only a few states represented. I have a friend who uses a cane (and occasionally a wheelchair) and her doctor was stunned when (please take a minute to make sure you’re seated as this is truly shocking!) my friend wanted to go off of the birth control pill so that she could get pregnant. Turns out, people of all types of abilities can be pregnant and/or be parents. That gynecologist was fired by my friend, in case you’re curious. Continue Reading →
When Your Period Isn’t A Period
While it’s not something that I consider vitally important, I have had many friends and students who think that the time that they bleed while on the hormonal birth control (like the birth control pill or Nuva Ring) is a period. But it’s not. It may look like a period, and you may have cramps, PMS, etc. However, it’s still not a period. I found an article to back me up, and this can also be known as withdrawal bleeding, a fake period, or a hormonal period. Continue Reading →
Planning For A Lucky Wedding?
I came across a blog post on Merital Bliss talking about whether or not there will be plenty of weddings in a supposedly “unlucky” year the same day as a newly engaged friend told me she just had to get married this year. See, she explained to me she couldn’t get married next year because it’s 2013 and 13 is bad luck, and getting married in 2014 is too far off. It seemed to be meant to be, so is there any truth to Merital Bliss’ question of whether there will be less weddings and babies next year? While she muses that triskaidekaphobia (the fear of 13) is truly real, she doesn’t fear for a lack of wedding invites. I’m not sure that it will cause much issue either, but then again, 13 is my mom’s favorite number and often my grandma told me it was really a lucky number (not that I am planning nuptials for next year). Continue Reading →
No Laughing Matter
I’d like to think that I have a good sense of humor, but there are a few subjects that I just can’t manage to find funny and intimate partner violence (also known as domestic violence) is one such subject. A friend sent me a link to a sign she’d read about that reads “I like my beer like I like my violence . . . Domestic.” Continue Reading →